Civil War soldiers traveled with their units from home to battlefield and, with some luck, back home bearing on their backs all that they needed to survive. Many carried precious family photographs and letters as well as a few rudimentary personal effects such as a sewing kit, pipe, diary, or deck of playing cards. While this game board theoretically could have been used by a Union soldier at a camp on the frontlines, its construction and pristine condition suggest it was created, sold, and reserved for patriotic use at home. The playing surface is composed of one large albumen silver print copy of a grid of photographs of thirty-one Union generals surrounding a portrait of President Abraham Lincoln.